These Games We Play
by LightningMage 123
Summary: When the blue box didn't disappear after a few minutes Harry decided that he had either finally lost it or he had discovered the so called freakishness. Harry hoped the second option was true as the idea of his life being a game is rather cool. Gamer!Harry
1. Prologue

**AN:**

**So, yeah. I did as I predicted when I started this account, start a story and never finish it. I will finish it, one day but that might not be soon. Actually, definitely not soon. However, I felt like a new year, a new story, a new chapter. I started writing this before the other one but have even less of it. Oh well. the prologue is painfully short but the rest of the chapters wont be. I just liked where this finished.**

**Lightning**

Prologue

The cupboard under the stairs was lit by the small flickering light of an old uncovered bulb. A young boy with jet-black hair sat there with his knees drawn close to his chest. On his wrist was a small watch he had taken from his cousins room when he had been cleaning it, the watch had been declared broken by Dudley but in reality it just needed some new batteries. Harry was sitting there watching the minutes tick by on the watch. In five minutes he will be seven.

Four minutes.

Three minutes.

Two minutes

One minute.

The small, digital watch beeped. Marking midnight, the next day, Harry's seventh birthday. He reached under his bed for the pack of smarties he had bought earlier with a pound he had found on the street. In a rare moment of indulgence he ate the whole pack. He put the empty box on the shelf above his head with his glasses and turned off the light. He snuggled down under the thin, ragged blanket and rolled over onto his side.

As he lay there he couldn't help but wonder how he would be spending his birthday if his parents hadn't died, maybe he would have gotten loads of presents like Dudley. As he closed his eyes and let himself drift off into the world of sleep, he wished that things would change.

Outside the house a shadow chuckled as it heard the boy's wish. He turned to the others in his group. They each wore cloaks that concealed their identities, but you could just about make out that four of the seven beings were female.

"He's the one" stated a woman in a silver cloak, "He's been marked by us all"

"I never thought I would see the day that it would happen" chuckled a man dressed in black. This seemed to unnerve some of the others.

"He will change the world. For better or worse." predicted a woman dressed in a cloak of gold.

"They will never know what hit them" cackled a man dressed in a dark grey.

"The gamer is in play" sang a woman in a blue cloak.

* * *

**You have slept in 'Cupboard under the stairs' you HP and MP have been restored by 50%. **

**[Dismiss]**

Harry looked blankly at the floating box. That was not what he was expecting to wake up to. He pinched himself to try and wake up, this of course didn't do anything as he was already wide awake. A minute passed without the box disappearing before he moved again. Closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, our protagonist opened his eyes warely, trying to understand what was happening. Almost without meaning to, his hand reached out to touch the weird cupboard invading box.

The pale blue box rippled under his touch but other than that it was like he was touching air. Pulling his hand back he blinked again and took a deep breath.

"I've finally lost it" he muttered in disbelief, "This is… i don't know what this is but its not normal. Definitely not normal".

With more confidence this time, he moved his hand and pressed 'dismiss'. The box pinged into nothingness and the cupboard was back to being as normal as it always is.

Sighing, our young hero decided to get ready for the day and put all mysterious boxes at the back of his mind. After all, weird floating boxes were freaky and freakishness was not allowed at No. 4 Privet Drive.

Sliding out of the small cupboard Harry wondered if this was the freakishness his aunt and uncle were so afraid of. He didn't have anymore time to ponder this as he opened the door to the kitchen and was faced with the second shock of the day.

**Petunia Dursley, Housewife, Lv 13 **

**Vernon Dursley, Director of Grunnings, Lv 27**

He stared at the words above their heads in shock.

'What the hell! Why aren't they freaking out over having words above their heads. Do I have words above my head!"

In the back of his mind he registered hearing a ping and a box appearing at the corner of his vision but he was to busy running up the stairs and into the bathroom to consciously acknowledge that.

He stood in front of the mirror and stared at the words floating above his head.

**Harry James Potter, The Gamer, Lv1**


	2. Why Me

**An:**

**Hi, new chapter for once without a years break. I'm on fire. I'll actually try to update more regularly but I can't promise anything. This story is inspired by Uzumaki Naruto: Dawn of the gamer by Legend of the Kyuubi, Percy Jackson and the Game by I'mjusttryingtofindmyway and Harry Potter and the Game by Concept101. These are brilliant stories and I would recommend them to anyone who likes gamer stories. Anyway, enjoy. **

**Lightning**

* * *

**Harry James Potter, The Gamer, Lv1**

Harry stared at his reflection, eyes tracing the words floating above.

"Ok… So more floating boxes. This looks just like those games Dudley plays" he muttered to himself, "The Gamer tittle thing after my name does make some sense then if we were to assume that for some reason my life is now a game"

He looked to his left and read the box that had appeared as he exited the kitchen. It had followed him all the way and was resting at the side of his vision, waiting for him to acknowledge it. Touching it (and wasn't that a weird feeling) he pulled it over so it was right in front of him.

**Due to staring at things for a long enough period of time you have gained the skill [Observe-Lv1].**

**[Dismiss]**

"No need to be rude"

Pressing on **[Observe]** another window popped up displaying the skill.

**Observe: Level 1 (0/100) {Passive}**

**The ability to observe everything around you.**

**Currently tells you: Name and basic description**

'Okay, so it seems I can level this up and it will tell me more with a higher level. Probably not too much of a stretch to assume other skills will be like this too'

**For thinking things through you have gained 1 Int**

'Int? What does that mean? I really need to find out more about this. I'm no expert on games, all I know is what Dudley has bragged about. Maybe I could sneak into his room and steal a game manual or something'

**Quest: Tutorial**

**Sneak into Dudley's room and find a game manual to learn more about games so you can succeed at your life, which is now a game.**

**Goal: Acquire Game manual**

**Rewards: 100xp, Game manual, ?, **

**Failure: Forever remain a loser, not knowing anything and failing at everything.**

**[Accept/ Decline]**

He stood there gaping at the screen. Seriously, who wrote this, there was no need to be so insulting! The quest itself seemed easy enough, though the question marks for rewards did confuse him a bit. He decided to go with it and pressed accept. He was less shocked that time when the box disappeared. Tidying himself up, he left the room and went back down to the kitchen. Ignoring the words above his Aunt's head he went towards the fridge and started getting some breakfast.

He started thinking about the quest and what he needed to do. He couldn't be caught searching through Dudley's room as he would get in trouble and that was not something he needed. Especially not now, he needed to figure this out.

"Boy" snapped his aunt, jarring him from his thoughts. Harry looked back at her and she sneered at him. "You better not bother us fact, stay out the house all day. Here"

She rummaged around in her purse and pulled out a ten pound note and thrust it into his hands.

"Use that to buy yourself lunch. You better be back before six to cook dinner".

"Uhh, OK… Thank you Aunt Petunia"

Grabbing the toast he made, he left the room. He had a whole day to himself. He ducked into his cupboard to grab his trainers and heard Dudley come down the stairs. Said cousin came behind him and in a bit of needless violence, shoved him into the cupboard from behind and slammed the door on him.

"Morning Freak" he laughed as he went into the kitchen. Harry groaned as not only did he hit his head, there was another skill pop up.

**Due to your head impacting the wall hard enough to cause pain you have gained the skill [Physical Endurance]**

**[Dismiss]**

Honestly he was starting to get fed up at the attitude the game kept throwing at him. He got it, his life sucked. He pressed on Physical Endurance and wasn't too surprised this time when another box appeared.

**Physical Endurance: Level 1 (0/250) {Passive}**

**How durable your body is. The higher the skill, the more damage you can take.**

**Physical attacks are 2% less damaging**

'It takes more to level that up than it takes to level up observe.' he noted, 'It could be really useful, imagine physical attacks doing 100% less damage. This gamer thing seems really useful.'

Realising what Dudley being downstairs means, he righted himself and sneaked upstairs.

'Now's the time to go and find that manual as it normally takes ages for Dudley to eat breakfast as he always has seconds and thirds.'

**Due to rationalizing your actions you have gained 1 Wis.**

'Is it going to give me more Wis and Int for making smart decisions? This manual better explain what these are'

Treading lightly, he passed the door to his aunt and uncle's room. Gently pushing open the door to Dudley's room he winced as he heard the crackle of paper under the door. Quickly looking around to check if anyone was watching, he crept into the room.

Dudley's room looked as if a hurricane had hit a rubbish dump and blown it all in here. There was rubbish everywhere and crumbs littered the floor. You could hardly tell what colour the floor was. The bed was in the far corner of the room, the TV and games consoles opposite.

Being careful not to step on anything (which was very hard in here) Harry made it to the cabinet where Dudley keeps his games. Quietly pulling the door open Harry looked helplessly at the array of boxes and wondered which one would help him. He didn't even know what type of game his life was and from the look of this cupboard there were many different genres. Picking one box up he turned it around and saw it was something called a dating sim.

'Definitely not' he thought, looking at the picture on the back cover. Why did Dudley even own this game, the only games he liked playing were ones that included lots of violence. Looking at it, his mind flashed back to the pop up and subsequence skill. Cursing his idiocy, he put the case back into the cupboard and started to look again, this time using the skill **[Observe]** to help him.

"No, no, no… definitely not. What the hell even is that?"

**[Observe has Leveled up]**

"Come on, come on. Where are you. Dudley's going to be finished in a few minutes"

His searching became more and more frantic the longer it went on. He had been doing this for about fifteen minutes and he needed to get out of here soon. He was about to close the cupboard, as he thought he had looked through everything, when he saw the corner of a booklet tucked behind a pokemon game. Very carefully he reached in and tugged on the paper, careful not to knock over anything. Pulling it out he sent an observe its way.

**Game manual**

**A game manual about different types of games. **

'Finally!'

He closed the cupboard and started making his way to the door. He was about to slip out the door when a noise outside caused him to freeze. Footsteps. Uncle Vernon was coming upstairs. Peering out the crack of the door he could see the lumbering mass that was his uncle walking up the hallway and heading into the master bedroom.

Harry released the air he didn't realise he was holding. He pulled the door open a bit more and slowly slipped out the room. Pulling the door closed behind his he started walking quietly across the landing. He was almost at the top of the steps when his Uncle's voice called out.

"BOY. What are you doing up here."

Harry jumped and spun around to face his Uncle.

"N-nothing" he stuttered. Sneakily he tucked the manual up the back of his top. He didn't want to think of what would happen if his Uncle saw he had it. It was clearly Dudley's and his Aunt and Uncle didn't like him touching anything of Dudley's. Something about spreading the freakishness.

His Uncle glared at him and shoved passed him, causing Harry to stumble, almost falling down the stairs. The whale made his way to the bathroom before turning around again before snapping at him.

"That better be true brat or you'll be in the cupboard for the rest of the week. What are you still doing here. You better not be back in the house before six"

"Y-yes Sir" he squeezed out before bolting down the stairs. Ignoring the pop ups following behind.

* * *

"I hate them" Harry muttered to himself. He was in the Little Whinging Park, a few streets away from the Dursleys house. The park was nice, if a bit small. Over to one side there was a play area with swings and slides, the middle of the park was just and open field for everyone to run around on and play football. In the far corner, where he was heading, was a small copse of trees. Perfect to hide from bullies if you climbed upwards.

He reached the trees and looked around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. Using the stumps of cut away branches to help him, he climbed up the best branch on the tree. You could see the whole park from there, yet no one could see you. It was perfect for someone looking to hide and to Harry's knowledge he was the only one to have found this place.

He lent back onto the trunk and pulled the manual out before placing it next to him. He glanced over at the pop ups that were following him and pulled them closer, he might as well get rid of them before he starts reading.

**Quest finished: Tutorial.**

**Sneak into Dudley's room and find a game manual to learn more about games so you can succeed at your life, which is now a game.**

**Goal: Acquire manual - Reached.**

**Reward: 100 exp, Game manual, Skill [Stealth].**

Harry nodded and pressed on **[Stealth]**.

**Stealth: Level 1 (0/250) {Active}**

**The ability to hide your presence and sneak around. Can you blend into your surroundings with everyone unable to find you? Of course not with your skill level, but in time, maybe.**

**5% chance of being undetected**

**2% more likely to land a critical hit if your opponent while undetected.**

***Note that it goes up by 2% for each level they are below you, and down 2% for every level above you.**

'I need to get this skill up.' he noted, dismissing the boxes. 'At the moment I have no chance of not being discovered by the Dursleys. That sounds ridiculous, i've snuck past the Dursley's before. Have all my skills started from scratch or something?'

**Due to thinking things through you have gained 1 Int**

Harry pushed it to the side and flipped open the manual. He quickly flicked through until he came across the RPG section.

"Right. Int is something called a stat or attribute and you can see your stats in something called a status"

At the word 'status' a window popped up.

**Harry James Potter**

**Level 1 (100/500)**

**Titles: **_**The Gamer, **_

**HP: 150/150 **

**MP:150/150 **

**Dex: 3**

**Str: 2**

**Vit: 3**

**Wis:3**

**Int:5**

**Luck: N/A (Potter Luck)**

**Stat Points: 0**

**Money: 0**

**Harry James Potter is your not so average seven year old. An orphan made to grow up at his maternal Aunt's house, he never quite fitted in. Always considered weird by his classmates due to his abilities, Harry wants to find out about his parents and why strange things always happen around him. **

**Skills **

**Perks**

Harry blinked. He looked it over only thought of one thing.

"Why the hell am I level one! I mean, i'm not the best at everything, but i'm not that bad. How am I level one when Aunt Petunia is level thirteen!"

Harry looked over his status and read the information in his book on stats.

* * *

_Stats/ Atributes_

_Dex (Dexterity) is accuracy, flexibility and speed. The higher it is, the better your accuracy is, the better you can handle weapons, the faster you are and how often you get critical strikes. It also influences how fast you regain health points._

_Str (Strength) is exactly what it says on the tin. It is how strong you are, how much physical power you have._

_Vit (Vitality) is how healthy you are. The higher this is, the better resistance you have to poisons and similar damage status effects. The lower it is, the easier it is to get ill. It also influences how much health you have._

_Wis (Wisdom) is how wise you are. It determines your common sense, creativity and critical thinking. It can also determine how quickly you gain certain skills as well as influencing how quickly you regain Mana. _

_Int (Intelligence) is your reaction time, your memory and your ability to learn. It also influences how much Mana you have._

_Luck is how lucky you are. It is the chance things will happen either the way you want them to, or the way you don't._

* * *

"Ok. So that makes sense." he muttered. Looking at the box he noticed the two buttons called 'Skills' and 'Perks'. Sitting up he pressed on 'Skills' and as expected, another box popped up.

**Skills:**

_**Passive:**_

**Observe: Level 2 (20/200) {Passive}**

**The ability to observe everything around you.**

**Currently tells you: Name and basic description.**

**Physical Endurance: Level 1 (0/250) {Passive}**

**How durable your body is. The higher the skill, the more damage you can take.**

**Physical attacks are 2% less damaging**

**English: Level 25**

**Your mastery of the language of english.**

**Reading: Level 23**

**Listening: Level 30**

**Speaking: Level 28**

**Writing: Level 19**

_**Active:**_

**Stealth: Level 1 (0/250) {Active}**

**The ability to hide your presence and sneak around. Can you blend into your surroundings with everyone unable to find you? Of course not with your skill level, but in time, maybe.**

**5% chance of being undetected**

**2% more likely to land a critical hit if your opponent while undetected.**

***Note that it goes up by 2% for each level they are below you, and down 2% for every level above you.**

"That's kind of pathetic honestly. I should have more skills"

Harry dismissed the box and pressed on 'Perks'.

**Perks:**

**Potter Luck**

**Congratulations, you've got the famous Potter luck. It is said that an old chinese wizard once cast the infamous '**_**May you live in interesting times**_' **curse upon your family for a perceived slight. No one knows if that story is true but you sure will feel it is. Luck is more unpredictable than it is for most people, sometimes your life will be the epitome of 'What can go wrong, will go wrong' and other times you will seemingly be Lady Luck's favorite.**

"Oh. Now that's just unfair." he exclaimed, glaring at the top of the screen. Looking at the other perk on the page he had to stop and blink for a few seconds. That certainly explained today.

**The Gamer**

**The unique ability to live your life as a game. **

**Gamer's mind: The ability to think things through calmly and logically, even in nerve-wracking situations. **

**Gamer's body: The ability for your body to live your life like a game. **

"That explains how i'm not having a meltdown or something". He casually ignored the memory of him freaking out when he saw the identification banner above his Aunt's head. Thinking about what had already transpired today he flipped through the guide until he came across the part on Quests.

* * *

_Quests_

_Quests are tasks with goals you need to reach and accomplish in order to gain a reward. Quests can be given randomly, from other people or yourself. Some quests can be more difficult than others due to side quests or hidden objectives, though those quests tend to give more and better rewards. Quests can be optional or mandatory. Some are time sensitive and others aren't. You can fail a quest by being unable to complete it which depending on the quest, can have serious consequences._

* * *

Harry paled as he read the last sentence. 'I have to be careful to read all the information in future'.

**For making a wise decision you have gained 1 Wis.**

Harry pulled up his stats and sure enough, they had updated.

**Wis:4**

Harry lent back on the tree trunk and thought about what this meant. His life was now a game, what was he supposed to do. Did he have to play it, what the main goal. If this was an RPG shouldn't there be a big bad or something, was he the main character?

Harry felt lost and confused, he guessed this is what all main characters felt when the story started and everything started happening. He ran a hand through his hair and adjusted his glasses.

'Why me' he thought, shaking his head. He looked to the left when he felt another box pop up.

**Quest: Why me?**

**Your life has suddenly got strange. Why is this happening to you? **

**Goal: Find out why you have gained this strange new ability**

**Rewards: 5000xp, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?,**

**Failure: Death**

"D-death?!"

His eyes were wide open, looking at the cost of failure. That must have been what it meant by serious consequences.

'That must be one important quest' he thought, weighing the pro's and con's of accepting. On one hand, if he failed, he could die. On the other, that was 5000xp and loads of question marks as rewards. He was also curious, Why him? Why was he the one with these powers? He wanted to find out, quest or no quest. If he intended to find out anyway, surely he should accept the quest. He could die if he didn't but he wanted to find out, he wanted to know.

He pressed accept and watched as the box dissolved in front of him. Part of him wanted to undo what he just did and go hide in his cupboard, the rest of him felt excited. This game gave him the ability to make his own choices, serious ones as well, his life was truly in his own for what felt like the first time in his life.

He peered through the branches and watched as other children played in the park and couldn't help but think that from now on everything would be different. He was never going to be one of them, carefree, playing with friends, but he was happy. Everything was different, but he liked this change. To him, it felt like everything had changed for the better.


	3. Stats and Skills

A few days had passed since Harry's life took a sudden turn for the weird. Though he had been thoroughly convinced that the whole 'Gamer' thing wasn't a hallucination by the end of the first day, that didn't mean he was completely used to the boxes popping up everytime he did something they deemed important. Which apparently included cooking and cleaning as he had gained skills in both of those. He was surprised but happy to note that neither skill had started on one, he supposed his experience of doing them before had been taken into account. They had both started at level five.

While being busy around the house a few small quests had appeared. He accepted them as it certainly made washing the dishes more fun when he knew he would be rewarded for it, even if it was for only 10xp. These small quests had brought his experience points to **(190/500) **which made him wonder what would happen when they filled up. He would level up, obviously, but what did that mean. He could see the levels above his aunt and uncle's heads, but what did it mean that they were over ten levels ahead of him. Was it due to their age? Their Job? Had they just washed thousands of dishes?

These questions plagued Harry's mind as he watched Aunt Petunia level up while they cooked breakfast. It wasn't overly obvious, the bar above her head merely flashed, the numbers changing. From looking at her he could tell she hadn't felt a thing. The manual had helped explain a bit, it was where he learned they were called experience points, that you got them from completing quests and something called dungeons. The tidbit about dungeons had not helped at all as he couldn't picture his Aunt wrestling slimes. He had amused himself for a minute with the idea of his aunt smashing zombies with an old broom while wearing her floral patterned nightdress, but that wasn't realistic at all. The Dursleys hated anything abnormal so they certain wouldn't waste time seeking out mythological monsters to fight!

The idea that people had to complete lots of quests seemed to fit, however he couldn't picture his aunt going on quests. Sure, he got small quests like washing the dishes or cooking lunch, but those quests gave such small rewards they would have to do them thousands of times over to get anywhere. He couldn't imagine any of the Dursleys accepting the type of quests with big rewards, like the **Why Me** quest, or any typical quests you read about in books. His aunt could never fight a dragon, or his uncle help some fairies.

If the Dursleys truly did get to their levels by doing just the mundane and boring quests, that must mean there are other people out their who _did _do dangerous quests and must have huge levels. There must be people with levels 100 and higher, while here he is, a measly level one. A wave of determination rose in him, he may be level one now, but he can change that. From what he could tell, only he can see these levels, only he could see what would give him the experience points, this gamer thing made him unique. It would be hard, the Dursleys certainly wouldn't help, but he could rise above them. Harry's eyes shone with resolve as he swore to be better than those who would put him down.

**Quest: Progress **

**Become better than those who would see you fail.**

**Goal: Achieve Level 100**

**Rewards: Isn't success its own reward here?**

**[Accept/Decline]**

Harry accepted the quest. The no rewards thing was slightly disappointing but he supposed the game was right, Level 100 would be its own reward. Though judging from the levels of the people around him, it would be extremely difficult. He hadn't seen anyone with a level higher than forty, and even then that was Mr Graham from Wisteria Walk, who rumour said was a retired martial arts master.

'This is going to be hard' he thought as he put away the dishes into their appropriate places. It was all well and good saying he would get stronger, but he had to come up with a plan on how to do it. Obviously he had to get quests, but he needed higher paying ones. Ten experience points for getting the plates washed and put away quickly was appreciated, but it wouldn't get him anywhere near his goal. However, he should probably not make a habit of choosing huge quests like **Why Me**, not only was the goal ambiguous at best, his life depended on completing it successfully. There was risk taking and then there was tempting fate. Too many quests like that and he was asking to fail. Accepting one or two should be fine though…

What he needed was a quest with a middling level of difficulty. Something risky with a small amount of danger. But where was he going to find that? No quests fitting that description had come up. Not to mention that with low stats like his he probably couldn't even do the quests if they came up. Currently just running from Dudley's gang was dangerous as he wasn't fast enough to outrun them.

'Oh'

**For reasoning things out and finally coming to the logical conclusion you have gained 1 Wis and 1 Int.**

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose and glared up at the floating text, the answer right in front of him. He had to raise his stats. At the moment he couldn't get better quests because he wasn't strong enough. It was like running a race. You can't start by doing the marathon, you had to build up the skills needed first or you wouldn't be able to do it. In his case he had to increase his stats and skills to increase the difficulty of his quests.

"Status" Harry muttered quietly. He didn't want his relatives to hear him talking to himself, that wouldn't go down well.

**Harry James Potter**

**Level 1 (190/500)**

**Titles: **_**The Gamer, **_

**HP: 150/150 **

**MP:150/150 **

**Dex: 3**

**Str: 2**

**Vit: 3**

**Wis:5**

**Int:6**

**Luck: N/A (Potter Luck)**

**Stat Points: 0**

**Money: 0**

**Harry James Potter is your not so average seven year old. An orphan made to grow up at his maternal Aunt's house, he never quite fitted in. Always considered weird by his classmates due to his abilities, Harry wants to find out about his parents and why strange things always happen around him. **

**Skills **

**Perks**

'Right' he thought, 'I need to work on my Str, Dex and Vit if I want to keep all my stats at a similar level. If I can increase my Intelligence and Wisdom by thinking and making wise decisions, I should be able to increase the others in a similar way. Str and Dex are obvious but what about Vit?'

**Quest: Baby steps**

**Time to take your first steps on the road to greatness. Everyone starts somewhere, you just started with bad stats. Increase them to make life easier for yourself **

**Goal: Increase all your stats by one**

**Rewards: 50xp, 1 stat point**

**[Accept/Decline]**

Harry pressed accept, he was planning on doing that anyway and he wasn't going to say no to easy xp. That did raise the question of how he was going to do it though.

He was snapped out of his musing by the appearance of his cousin. The boy was wearing a smug grin and was surrounded by his entourage of friends. Harry grimaced, knowing exactly what was going to happen next and the information above the gang's heads was not reassuring.

**Dudley Dursley, Bully Leader, Lv 4**

**Piers Polkiss, Bully, Lv 3**

**Gordon James, Bully, Lv 3**

**Dennis Johnstone, Bully, Lv 3**

**Malcom Morrison, Bully, Lv 3**

All three of the bullies were a higher level than him, with Dudley leading the pack. Quickly, he glanced around trying, and failing, to find an adult whose presence would deter the boys. No one was there. Not that they would believe him, his aunt was too good at making everyone believe he was a lying troublemaker and Dudley a well behaved angel. Looking at the boys he wondered just how blind everyone was to believe that. Dudley grinned as he realised what Harry was looking for. He whispered something to his followers which made them laugh. The group made a beeline for him, the means grins on their faces told him all he needed to know. He wasn't getting out of this easily.

"Oi, Freak. Up for a game of Harry Hunting?" Dudley yelled, phrasing it as the question it wasn't. All of them knew that Harry had no choice in the matter. Frustration built up inside Harry, he was done with being forced into this game. Before he knew what he was doing, he yelled back at the approaching mob.

"Not today Dudders, I can't be bothered to try and catch you and your little friends." he snarked. Ruthlessly, he pushed down the sense of fear, panic, and why the hell did I just do that that came about due to his actions. The pop up telling of a new skill was also ignored.

Now, Dudley's gang wasn't made of the smartest individuals, but even they could detect the sarcasm in that sentence, and they didn't like it one bit. As one, they glared at Harry causing the emerald eyed boy to take an involuntary step back. Dudley, being the leader of the group, was the one to start the chase with a cry of "GET HIM".

Harry turned on the spot and fled, his best bet was to run and find somewhere to hide. That's what usually worked. Using his right hand, he shoved the latest pop up to the side, he would read them when he wasn't at risk of being beaten to a pulp.

* * *

"GUYS! I think he went this way" Malcom yelled, pointing at the exit of the small ally that led towards Magnolia Crescent. He sprinted that way, the rest of the gang following his lead. If anyone was in the abandoned ally they would have heard a sigh of relief echo from behind the dustbins by the entrance.

Pushing himself up, back onto aching feet, Harry looked at the exit the boys had run through. Gagging at the smell of rotting chicken coming from the bins, he started walking the opposite direction the boys had come from. Dudley's gang may realise he had hidden himself soon and start backtracking. From previous 'games' Harry knew the library wasn't far, just on the corner of Magnolia Road. Dudley and co avoided the library at all costs so they would never look for him there.

From the outside the library didn't look all that special. In fact, if it wasn't for the sign above the door you would never have known what the building was used for. However as soon as you entered you were bombarded with the smell of books, both new and old. The library was separated into many different sections each containing a different topic varying from classic literature to instruction manuals. Within each section there were many isles filled with shelves upon shelves of books. Little Whinging boasted one of the largest libraries in the area, a fact Harry was very happy about.

To the left of the door as you came in there was a table with five computers on it. Judging from the sound of keys being pressed at least one was in use. Opposite the entrance there was the front desk where the old librarian vigilantly watched for anyone who tried to break the library's rules. As long as he didn't break any he was safe here, a fact Dudley hated as he was banned from the library after the librarian caught him bullying someone in the year below Harry. The library was a safe haven for everyone who had run into trouble with Dudley Dursley.

Harry walked over to his favorite spot in the library. It was right at the back and it took skill to navigate your way through the bookshelves to get there. Right between Ancient Literature and Advanced Physics was a small area with three beanbags and a small table, it received just the right amount of traffic. None. When he got there he collapsed onto the beanbag and relaxed. He closed his eyes and lay there, ignoring the sound of another box popping up.

Eventually he opened his eyes, the knowledge he had quite a few boxes awaiting his attention making him unable to relax properly. Waving the boxes over, he looked at the information they contained.

**By insulting an adversary you have gained the skill [Taunt-Lv1]**

**Taunt: Level 1 (0/100) {Passive}**

**Want to anger your opponent into making a mistake? This is the skill for you.**

**20% chance at distracting your opponent, 10% chance at angering your opponent, 5% chance of causing them to make a mistake**

**By attracting the anger of a large group you have gained the skill [Detect Intention-Lv1]**

**Detect Intention: Level 1 (0/250) {Passive}**

**Can't read the atmosphere? Lucky for you this skill does that for you. This skill tells you what emotion people are projecting at you**

**Currently tells you: the source if they are in your sight, the emotion, the basic reason why. **

**Warning! [Detect Intention] has detected anger towards you**

**Source: Dudley's Gang - They want to beat you up.**

**By running until you got tired you have gained 1 Dex and 1 Vit**

**By running from Dudley's gang you have gained the skill [Running-Lv7]**

**Running: Level 7 (350/700) {Passive}**

**How fast you can run**

**Current speed: 4.2 mph**

**(Passively increase Vit and Dex by 1)**

**Quest Progress: You have made progress on quest 'Baby steps'**

**You have entered {Little Whinging Public Library}**

**10% more xp when learning from books**

Harry smiled, he could use this, he could definitely use this. The new skills were welcomed with open arms and he was glad to have found out how to raise his vitality, that had confused him. The progress on the quest was good and the bonus from just being in the library was amazing. If locations had bonuses that could be extremely useful.

Getting up from his seat, Harry decided to make use of the library bonus and get a book to read. Not knowing what to get, he decided just to look around and see what peaked his interest. Harry didn't even bother to look at the advanced physics section, they had only started basic science last year so there was no way he would understand anything over there. Meandering over to the Ancient Literature section he went to pull out a random book before being stopped by a message from the game.

**Error. The Iliad; a translation, requires [English reading] skill Level 40, [Ancient Greek] reading skill Level 5.**

Harry blinked. Books had level requirements, that was new. It made sense if he thought about it, a grade one reader would seriously struggle to read college level books. It seemed like he would have to get better at reading before he could read any of the nearby books.

Leaving the area he moved back out into the main section of the library. With no idea where to go he merely picked a direction and started walking. After a few minutes he finally found something that caught his eye. It wasn't the title that peaked his interest, rather the fact that it was glowing. The books around it were dull reds, blacks and browns whereas this book was shining with a gold light.

There was only one other person in the isle, a young woman, and she showed no reaction to the book. Either she didn't find this strange at all or this was another thing that only he could see. As expected a message appeared when he touched the book. However the content of the message was a surprise.

**Skill Book: Astronomy for Dummies**

**Would you like to learn skill [Astronomy]**

**[Yes/No]**

'What! I can learn skills simply by touching books! Of course I want to learn the skill if it's as easy as that!'

He pressed yes and then fell back in shock as the book exploded into golden light that flew into his chest. Wide eyed, he stared at the place where the book had been just a few seconds ago. Scrambling to his feet, he looked around frantically to see if there had been any witnesses. He didn't want to be kicked out of his Dudley free haven!

Luckily for him the isle was empty, the woman from earlier having left. Harry released the breath he didn't realise he had been holding. That had been lucky, he didn't want to imagine what people's reactions would be if he did that in public. Thank god the bookshelves provided some privacy.

Looking at the box floating next to him, he was happy to see he did actually get the skill. The book hadn't just dissolved for nothing.

**Astronomy: Level 1 (0/100) {Passive}**

**Astronomy is the study of celestial objects (stars, moons, planets and other space stuff).**

**Knowledge Level: Awful, people who pay attention when they watch documentary's know more than you.**

He could have done with the skill being less insulting, but he was still glad he got it. The game always managed to insult him in some way anyway, he was starting to get used to it.

Seeing as he had just learnt the skill, he decided to pick up some books on the subject, might as well while he was here. After checking he could actually read them, he grabbed two before going down a different isle. When he finally got back to his spot he had added another book to the pile in his arms.

**For carrying heavy books around you have gained 1 Str**

Harry placed the books on the table and sat down. Reaching over and picking one up, he cracked it open and settled in for spending a few hours reading.

* * *

"The Library will close in ten minutes" the tannoy rang, making Harry jump. He was part way through the last of the books he had picked out. Two being astronomy and one on cooking.

**[English Reading has leveled up] x 5**

**[English has leveled up]**

**[Astronomy has leveled up] x 2**

**For reading a lot of books your Int has increased by 2**

Dismissing the boxes as he got up, he stretched and picked up the books. As he made his way through the library he put them away, taking note of all the skill books dotted about. They might come in useful in the future.

He was almost out the door when he overheard a couple of teens playing on the computers. Normally he wouldn't pay them any mind but seeing as his life had become a game recently, they might have some good information.

"Guys! My inventory is full but if I log of now we'll lose the staff of power!"

"Shit, where are you. I've got some space"

"Where we killed the boss"

"I'm coming"

"Inventory?" Harry tested the new word, he glanced to his right and saw a new box. Unlike the others this one wasn't full of words, instead it was filled with smaller boxes. He closed it for now, he could figure it out later. Knowing how late it was, Harry started running. The quicker he got home the better.

By the time he had made it back to the Dursleys house he had increased both his Dex and Vit by one. Walking inside, he heard laughter from the dining area. The Dursleys were sitting there eating dinner. As soon as he entered the kitchen they immediately turned and glared at him. Harry merely rolled his eyes, their glares were nothing new to him. On the kitchen side there was his dinner, a banana that his aunt had left out for him. He grabbed it more making his way to his cupboard, this inventory thing wasn't going to test itself after all.

Harry pulled up his inventory as soon he shut the door. Unlike the rest of his ability, this wasn't immediately obvious as to how he should use it. He thought back to the conversation he had overheard, they had talked about it being full and losing something if they didn't put it in there. So a type of storage space then.

Eyeing the boxes, Harry wondered if it was just that simple. He picked up the banana with his right hand and tried pushing it into one of the boxes on the screen. The screen rippled and the banana was sucked from his hand. One of the many boxes now had a picture of the banana with a small number one below it. He looked at it before attempting to take it out. Reaching a hand into the screen, he found the fruit and was able to bring it out. The picture disappearing as he did so.

A small grin spread across his face, if he could stockpile food in here he wouldn't have to try and sneak by the Dursleys every time he was hungry. Excited now, he looked around the cupboard to see what else he could put in there. His eyes came to rest on the old plastic army figurines he had 'borrowed' from Dudley. Grabbing one off the shelf, he cocked his arm back and threw it into his inventory. The smile on his face grew as he watched the screen ripple and accept it, his eyes alight with all the possibilities.

Harry found the leftover money from his birthday that he didn't use. Carefully he pushed it into his inventory. If this worked he didn't have to worry about Dudley stealing it anymore. The screen took the assortment of coins and flashed. Harry panicked for a second as the money didn't go into a box like everything else. He calmed down though when he saw it appear at the bottom of the screen.

**Money: £7**

He tried to get it out again by reaching like he had with everything else. It didn't work. Instead, he was greeted with a screen asking how much he would like. There was a keypad, like what you see at cashpoints, there for him to type in the amount. Pressing five he was surprised when a five pound note appeared for him to grab. Not that he was surprised at the amount, he just wasn't expecting a note. He had only put coins in after all. He inspected the note, it didn't look fake but he wasn't the best judge.

Harry put it back, he didn't need it now anyway. This was interesting to keep in mind though. Looking around the cupboard, Harry put everything that had any value to him into the box. Now he had a Dursley proof storage area he was going to use it.

After storing away everything, Harry closed the box. He had one more thing to do before going to sleep. Pulling up his stats he looked at his progress.

**Dex: 5 (1)= 6**

**Str: 3**

**Vit: 5 (1) = 6**

**Wis: 5**

**Int: 8**

**Luck: N/A (Potter Luck)**

**Stat Points: 0**

"I just need a point in Wis and I'll have completed that quest. I still need to work on my strength though. It's my weak point." he noted, "If I go back to the library again tomorrow, I can work on my skills again and get more points for strength by carrying books around. Maybe I should check out the fitness section to see if there are any tips in those books."

He nodded, a plan made. If he continued to make progress like this, things would surely improve. Harry closed his eyes, his last thought before sleep claimed him was about how amazing this ability of his is.


End file.
